65 fight into his campaign, Saul ‘Canelo‘ Alvarez has already secured his place in the Hall of Fame.
The Mexican is a four-weight champion and has dominated the super-middleweight division since 2018, becoming undisputed in the division with title wins over Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Planet and defending that status four times before recently being stripped of one belt due to not facing his mandatory challenger.
Canelo, 34, is, in many measurements, the sport’s most prominent star. Having turned over to the professional ranks in 2005 at the age of 15, he has managed to dip his two into a couple of eras, with only one of two losses coming at the hands of the great Floyd Mayweather.
Despite his considerable experience, three-weight world champion James Toney recently told The Parry that Alvarez would not last ‘two fights’ in his era.
“Let me say this, Canelo was brought up the right way, he would not last two big fights in my era. He’s soft. I’m just being real with you. He’s a good fighter, but you know what he’s not in our league.
Toney won the IBF Super-Middleweight World Title in 1993 against Iran Barkley. He made three defences of the belt – Tony Thornton, Tim Littles and Charles Williams – before putting it on the line against an undefeated Roy Jones Jr.
Jones would serve Toney the first knockdown of his career on his way to a clear decision win. Toney moved up in weight after, blaming the cut to 168 for a below-par showing. His campaign, despite losing his first fight at 175, was far from over.
He would fight another 44 times, including a victory over Evander Holyfield, and eventually hang up the gloves in 2017 with a total of 77 wins from 92 fights. Despite the ten losses, he was never stopped.
Canelo returns to the ring on September 14 to face Puerto Rico’s Edgar Berlanga.
